Clergy support Columbus officers' civil-rights concerns, other issues

Sunday

When a group of current and former Columbus police officers felt as though they weren't being heard by the powers that be in city government, they turned to those who have another kind of power.

Believing they hold the power of faith and influence, the officers asked local clergy members for help.

"It's been my understanding in the past that when clergy stands together, the community listens," said Jan Roberts, a retired Columbus police officer who said she faced discrimination during her tenure.

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Lt. Melissa McFadden, who sued the city in June alleging racial bias and discrimination, wanted to reach out to local faith leaders because "they have membership."

"If City Council wasn't going to help, they have to hear from people in the community," she said.

McFadden and Roberts, both African-American, and about 20 other officers sought out pastors and other faith leaders during the summer to help them deal with what they say is a hostile work environment inside the Police Division.

The practice of reaching out to faith leaders for help isn't new.

"There is a deeply rooted tradition in the United States, (and) around the world, of clergy functioning as representatives of their community and, in particular, functioning as community representatives who remind the community of their ideals," said Dan McKanan, the Emerson senior lecturer at Harvard Divinity School. "Clergy supporters were very prominent ... because it sends the message that this is a broader community who is supportive of people harmed or at risk."

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was celebrated across the United States this past week, was known not only for fighting for civil rights but also for seeking just labor practices for public workers.

That is what the clergy in Columbus are doing today, they say.

"We are called to be 'drum majors for justice,'" said the Rev. Tim Ahrens of Downtown’s First Congregational Church during an event Jan. 15, which would have been King’s 90th birthday. Ahrens was quoting a sermon that King preached a few months before his April 4, 1968 assassination, when he said he'd like to be remembered as a "drum major for justice."

"Spiritual traditions see God on the side of the oppressed and those who struggle for freedom," McKanan said.

During the event, faith leaders stood in the cold to express their solidarity with police officers who feel they've been discriminated against.

"Martin Luther King Jr., he died for public workers," said the Rev. Jefferey P. Kee, senior pastor at New Faith Baptist Church of Christ on the Near East Side. "Dr. King believed in humanity for all people. Today, we are here as a guiding coalition and cohorts of Dr. King for police officers or public workers."

The clergy members — black and white, and of various faiths — met with, and then later received a written letter from, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther last month. In the letter, the mayor addressed the officers' complaints and how he plans to respond.

"I want to applaud the mayor from the outside," Kee said. "If you've been part of a system that's oppressed ... many times you can't see a need for change, but somebody else who doesn't have allegiance or commitment to the institution (can) say, 'I believe there is a need for change, and I want to be a leader.'"

Kee said he felt that the police officers needed a "prophetic voice."

Standing up for police officers isn't the only action that local clergy members have taken of late. During the past few years, clergy members have stepped up and spoken out on other occasions — whether on the steps of a church or in front of an abortion clinic.

Several times in the past two years, clergy members have been among those standing outside churches offering sanctuary to immigrants facing deportation and the LeVeque Tower, where the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement makes some decisions about the fate of those immigrants.

There also are organizations locally that bring clergy and others together to speak up for social-justice causes, such as Faith in Public Life Ohio and others.

The Rev. Jennifer Butler, founder and CEO of D.C.-based Faith in Public Life, said that standing up for justice is at the core of faith traditions and is what Scripture guides people of faith to do.

"There's been an effort underway by my organization and others to recognize we have to step forward," she said. "God is doing a new thing and the spirit is moving."

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

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